Hat Full of Stars

Lauper moved away from the pop-rock of her earlier records toward alternative music and topical songs. Junior Vasquez co-produced, and many tracks rest on synthetic loops and percussion. Sally's Pigeons deals with abortion, A Part Hate with racism, Product of Misery and Broken Glass with spousal abuse, and Lies with incest. A Part Hate was written as an anti-apartheid song for True Colors, but her label felt it would make that album too political.

Holly George-Warren of Rolling Stone gave it four stars out of five and called it Lauper's most ambitious record. It stalled at number 112 on the Billboard 200 and had sold 119,000 copies in the United States as of 2003. It fared better in Japan and France, where it went gold. The singles were Who Let in the Rain, That's What I Think, Sally's Pigeons and the title song.